This thread is full of strong emotions! I admit that I'm new to the game, this is only my second update in real-time, but I share most of the frustrations with the pros and cons. I'm ok with a slow paced game with long releases- but AWAM really pushes it to the extreme. If the new release schedule is maintained, I think a 3ish month development period is fair considering the length of the last update.
Personally, I only have 1 playthrough saved, so the enormous replay value of this game is lost on me. I prefer to stick with my choices when I play through games, so I don't like to go back and try different paths to see which I like best. If I lock myself out of a storyline, then so be it. However, considering the long development time before this game is completed, it would be nice if the save system were organized differently to make it easier to separate play-throughs.
But really, that leads me to my biggest problem with this game. It isn't so bad that the development time between releases is long, but the scope of the game is unreasonable. When I first heard of this game I had no idea of its already long development. Then I learned that L&P estimates that there could be as many as 10 years left in front of us. That's crazy. Storylines are already difficult to keep straight, how many years does he need to tell the story? Case in point, the hair dresser and her daughter- they feel like completely unnecessary characters. I'm sure L&P has a plan, and the yoga scene was fun, but there's too many balls in the air to keep juggling all these characters. Sophia and Claire made plans to see eachother in a couple days, but to us it may be six months to a year before we ever get to see those days. From a storytelling perspective this is a disaster because we're completely losing track of who the characters are. Without the (slightly outdated) character glossary, it would be almost impossible to remember everyone.
I feel strongly that L&P needs a collaborator that they trust that can come in and help scale the game down to something more manageable. What are the core stories that need to be told, and what characters can we eliminate in order to tell those stories most effectively. You always need supporting characters, but certainly we don't need ALL of these supporting characters. Maybe L&P really has cut some content, it seems like the bums, the movers, Dylan's teacher, the postman, Sophia's first job, and the young couple who are friends with Sophia and Liam; all of this seems to have been put on the back burner or cut. And I think that's good. But I think he needs to keep going because the game is drowning in content.
